Means for attaching staysails to stays

ABSTRACT

This invention describes means for attaching a staysail, constituting one component, to a stay (constituting a second component) in a sailing vessel. One of these components is fitted with a member which exhibits a channel formation, while the other component carries a plurality of slide elements which are slidingly engageable within the channel formation.

United States Patent Dowling Apr. 2, 1974 [54] MEANS FOR ATTACHING STAYSAlLS TO 2,065,7t5 I2/l936 Leon 114/90 STAYS [76] Th B D r F] FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS nventor: omas arrow ow mg, 1 grim g 31 pp mswonh, 6,974 8/191 1 Great Britain l 14/89 England Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix [22] Elm! 1972 Assistant ExaminerStuart M. Goldstein [21] A N 280,383 Attorney, Agent, or FirmHauke, Gifford, Patalidis &

Dumont [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 17, 1971 ..V.V 38490/71 [57] ABSTRACT 1971 Great Bmam 57485/71 This invention describes means for attaching a stay- [52] us Cl 08 sail, constituting one component, to a stay (constitut- 51 Int. ci..... .B 63h 9/04 ing a second COmPOnent) a Sailing vessel one Of [58] Field of Search l 6 108 109 these components is fitted with a member which ex- Hit/113414 hibits a channel formation, while the other component carries a plurality of slide elements which are slidingly [56] References Cited engageable within the channel formation.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures 2,925,798 2/1960 Colgate 114/102 PATENTEUAPR 21914 3800 728 SHEET 2 [1F 4 ATENTED APR 2 I974 SHEET 3 OF 4 PATENTED APR 2 I974 SHEU 0F 4 MEANS FOR ATTACHING STAYSAILS TO STAYS This invention relates to means for attaching staysails to stays in a sailing vessel. The term staysail" is used throughout this specification to mean any sail, including a headsail such as a jib, which in use is supported by a stay.

In the great majority of sailing vessels the jib is set by first bending on the sail at the tack and the head, and then attaching the luff of the sail to the forestay by means of hanks i.e. metal clip ring fittings. The fixing of these hanks can be a time consuming process, the more so if the crew is not thoroughly experienced or if weather conditions are adverse, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the need for it.

According to the present invention, means for attaching a staysail, constituting a first component, to a stay, constituting a second component, comprises a member exhibiting a channel formation and carried by one of the aforesaid components, and a plurality of slide elements which are carried by the other component and are slidingly engageable within the channel formation.

In a preferred embodiment the aforesaid member is carried by the stay and the slide elements are carried by the luff of the sail.

Preferably the sail-attaching means additionally comprises a secondary member having a channel formation in which the slide elements are slidably engaged when the sail is in an inoperative or stowed condition, the secondary member being adapted to be brought into registering engagement with the primary member so that the channel formation in the secondary member forms a continuation of the channel formation in the primary member and so that slide elements can be transferred from one channel formation to the other as required.

The secondary member may be a straight, rigid member which can with advantage have a formation for partially enclosing the stay, and thus for locating the secondary member in relation to the stay, when the secondary member is in registering engagement with the primary member. The latter may be formed or provided with an extension which carries means for receiving one end of the rigid secondary member.

Provision can readily be made to allow the sail to be 7 set straight from its stowage ie without the necessity for manually extracting the sail from its bag or locker and carrying it to the foot of the stay. For this purpose the secondary member can take the form of a flexible member releasably attachable at one end to the primary member and preferably anchored at its other end to or within a stowage receptacle for the sail.

The primary member is preferably a casing of aerofoil shape which is rotatable about the stay so that the primary member automatically aligns itself with the prevailing wind and thus reduces air resistance or drag.

One embodiment of the invention, and a possible modification of that embodiment, will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the aforementioned primary member in position on a forestay, with a rigid secondary member in the course of being fitted;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the primary member, showing a slide member in position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of part of the primary member;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of part of the primary member;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 but additionally showing a slide member in position;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the rigid secondary member, also showing a slide member in position;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view showing the rigid secondary member being moved intoregistering e'n gagement with the primary member;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the rigid secondary member shortly before its engagement with the primary member;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the forepart of a sailing vessel with the primary and rigid secondary members in the position assumed when the staysail is set;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the forepart of a sailing vessel and diagrammatically illustrates the use of a flexible secondary member; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the forepart of the vessel shown in FIG. 10, illustrating a possible disposition of sail lockers.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a wire forestay 1 on a sailing vessel 2 is provided with an aerofoil casing or fairing 3 constituting the aforesaid primary member and carrying a depending extension piece 4 which has a socket 5 at its free lower end. In the position schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 (that is, with a staysail 6 not set) the socket 5 rests freely on a forestay rigging screw ferrule which is diagrammatically shown at 7. The extension piece 4 and socket 5 together form a holder for a straight, rigid secondary member which is indicated at 8 and which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The fairing 3 (see particularly FIGS. 2 to 5) is made up of a number of half-section mouldings 9 assembled about the forestay 1 and secured together by screws such as 10. The mouldings 9 are made of a plastics material (such as a polycarbonate or nylon, the latter possibly with a glass reinforcement) and for reasons of strength are assembled in overlappingor brick fashion i.e. so that the joins are staggered, as best seen in FIG. 4. A half-length filler moulding 9a is provided at each end to complete the assembly and each end of the fairing 3 is also provided with a reinforcing collar'(not shown).

In order to increase the flexibility of the assembly, a skirt portion 11 of each moulding 9, 9a can be provided with a slit such as is shown at 12 in FIG. 3.

The assembled fairing 3 has a through bore 13 through which extends the forestay l, and a substantially D-shaped channel 14 wherein dome-headed slide eIemeiiETS aI-e sTidably 'ea 'agea Wires fhestay sail 6 is set. The slide elements 15 are bifurcated (FIGS. 2

m5). t9 rssis a p i fift @fifi and are secured thereto by rivets such as 16. It will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 5 that each slide element and the luff edge of the sail are enclosed within the skirt portion 11 of the fairing 3 when the sail is set. The slide elements 15 are provided at regular intervals along the luff edge.

-with the staysaiTtS.

3 and exhibits a D-shaped channel 17 (identical in cross-sectional shape with the channel 14 of the fairing 3) Wlfl llIl which all th e slideelements are Hidably engaged when the staysail 6 is in its stowed condition. The member 8 carries a retaining catch (not shown) for releasably holding the elements 15 within the channel 17 until required, and also carries a curved metal extension strip 18 the purpose and function of which will be described below.

When not inuse, the staysail 6 and the member8 are stowed away together in a suitable stowage receptacle (such as a sail bag or holdall) with the slide elements 15 all slidably engaged within the channel 17 as already indicated. When the sail is to be set, the bag or holdall is brought forward and clipped to the deck, and the following basic procedure is then adopted.

(1) The tack of the staysaiT 6, i.e. the lower forward corner of the sail, is secured in conventional manner. As usual, two tack securings are required: one in use and one for the next sail to be set.

(2) The end of the member 8 which is nearer the tack is inserted into the socket 5 so that the member 8 is initially angled outwardly from the forestay 1 on the starboard side thereof (see FIGS. 1 and 7); and the member airmen pivoted towards the forestay 1 inthe direction of the arrowin FIG. 7, until the curved extension strip 18 partially encloses the stay and locates the member 8 in relation thereto (see FIG. 8). At the same time a male element 19 carried by the member 8 engages in a complementary female formation 20 in the fairing 3 and the member 8 clicks into a position of registering engagement with the fairing 3. A spring catch 21 acts as an additional means to retain the member 8 in this position while required. The action of bringing the member 8 into registering engagement with the fairing also releases the previously mentioned retaining catch, allowing the slide elements 15 in the channel 17 free access to the channel 14 of the fairing.

(3) A halyard 22 (FIG. 1) is then attached to the head of the sail (the head being disposed at the upper end of the member 8) and the sail is hoisted, slide elements 15 being transferred during this process from the channel 17 to the channel 14 in the fairing 3.

The lowermost slide element 15 is fixed to the member 8 and this has the effect, as the sail is hoisted over its last few feet, of hoisting the whole assembly of fairing 3 and member 8 into the position schematically illustrated in FIG. 9 i.e. so that the lower or socket end of the extension piece 4 is now some distance above the ferrule 7 on which it rested in its original position. Thus the procedure described above allows jfjh fi tlinfieriiber 8 to be carried out as near the deck as possible and alsoby the fixing of the lowermost slide-offers the additional advantage of an appreciable gap between the tack and the member 8 when the sail is set, thus reducing the twisting effect of the tack on the extension piece 4 and fairing 3.

It will be appreciated that in the hoisted position ilmaze" of engaging and s 'ubsequfently lustrated in FIG. 9 the fairing and secondary member 8 are free to rotate about the forestay 1 so as to line up w A single hank can be fixed (as at 23 in FIG. 9) between the lower or socket end of the extension piece 4 and the ferrule 7 but this is optional and in fact is considered to be normally unnecessary.

It will be understood that several members such as 8 can be provided, each with a different type of staysail, so that such sails can be changed with speed and facility whenever weather and other sailing conditions warrant it.

In the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, the so-called secondary member is a straight, rigid member. However in a modification schematically illustrated in FIG. 10, the secondary member is flexible: a fact which allows a staysail to be set straight from its stowage i.e. without it being necessary to carry the sail forward manually. In FIG. 10 the secondary member is indicated at 24 and comprises a flexible channel strip of plastics material, the channel formation in the member 24 being identical in crosssection to the channel formation 17 in the rigid member 8. An inner end 25 of the member 24 is anchored within its stowage, here represented by a sail locker 26, by a shock cord 27 and at its outer end 28 the member 24 carries means (not shown) allowing it to be releasably connected to the lower extremity of the fairing 3. Such means may comprise a bayonet or plug connection adapted to be engaged within a complementary formation carried by the fairing 3; or alternatively the male part of the connecting means may be carried by semis and iireremaieparrby'ifie'memser 24.

Thus in this modification, just as in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS.-1 to 9, the channel formation in the secondary member 24 can be made to serve as a continuation of the channel formation in the primary me mber or f a iring 3, and slide elements 15 can again be transferred from one such member to the other as and when required. Although for ease and clarity in illustration FIG. 10 does not show a sail or its associated slide elements 15, it is to be understood that these are provided and take the same form as those described above.

As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 11, the sailing vessel in this modification has a plurality of selfdraining sail lockers such as 26 below a decking 29 for the stowage of an equivalent number of differently siied ancUoi' shaped staysails 6. Each of these sails carries a set of slide elements 15 and each such set is ready mounted in sliding engagement with its associated flexible secondary member 24. Hence there is one member 24 for each locker 26.

The basic procedure for hoisting a selected staysail 6 using the modified means of the present invention is manently attached thereto, and thus stowed in the same sail locker when not in use, or bent onto the sail before hoisting at the same time as the halyard.

The tack of the sail may carry a ring which in the stowed condition of the sail surrounds the member 24 at or near its inner end but which on hoisting sail automatically feeds into an appropriately strong locating formation(not shown) carried by the fairing 3. In such a case, however, the tack may then be above deck level which is undesirable in racing yachts. This difficulty can be overcome by lowering the point of attachment between the fairing 3 and member 24 to below gunwhale level, or by using an over-centre level or equivalent means to tighten the tack. A third and preferred solution would be to provide a second ring on the true tack, somewhat below the first-mentioned ring, and lever down the second ring as required.

I claim:

1. A device for storing and attaching a staysail to a stay, said device comprising a casing disposed around a portion of said stay, said casing having a channel open to one side and having an enlarged interior portion, an elongated holder member having a channel corresponding to said first mentioned channel, a sail and means at the edge of said sail for slidably engaging in said channels, means for mounting said holder to said stay in a position wherein said channels are longitudinally aligned whereby the means at the edge of said sail can be moved from the channel in said holder to the channel in said casing to thereby attach said sail to said stay.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 and in which said holder is a straight rigid member and includes an elongated curved strip adapted to extend around said stay to mount said holder to said stay in a position aligning said channels.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 and including an extension depending from said casing and means at the end of said extension for receiving the end of said holder.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the holder is a flexible member.

5. The device as defined in claim 4 and including a storage receptacle for said staysail and in which said holder has one end releasably attachable to said casing and the opposite end anchored to said storage receptacle.

Patent No. 728 Dated April 2, 1974 Inventor) Thomas Barrow Dowllng It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 62, after "element", insert --l5-.

Sighed and sealed this 13th day of August 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C. MARSI IALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissloner of Patents FORM po-wso (10-59) USCOMWDC 60376,

t GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 19.9 O-BSG-Zii 

1. A device for storing and attaching a staysail to a stay, said device comprising a casing disposed around a portion of said stay, said casing having a channel open to one side and having an enlarged interior portion, an elongated holder member having a channel corresponding to said first mentioned channel, a sail and means at the edge of said sail for slidably engaging in said channels, means for mounting said holder to said stay in a position wherein said channels are longitudinally aligned whereby the means at the edge of said sail can be moved from the channel in said holder to the channel in said casing to thereby attach said sail to said stay.
 2. The device as defined in claim 1 and in which said holder is a straight rigid member and includes an elongated curved strip adapted to extend around said stay to mount said holder to said stay in a position aligning said channels.
 3. The device as defined in claim 1 and including an extension depending from said casing and means at the end of said extension for receiving the end of said holder.
 4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the holder is a flexible member.
 5. The device as defined in claim 4 and including a storage receptacle for said staysail and in which said holder has one end releasably attachable to said casing and the opposite end anchored to said storage receptacle. 